House sale fallen through 😭

[givemebooks]

I am utterly devastated, first house purchase and has fallen through due to something so stupid!

Sellers have no chain we are first time buyers
This should have been completed weeks ago!!

I posted before about a gate blocking access our mortgage provide want a letter about maintaining access through this gate and then they will accept and indemdity coving the access

The short story is that today the sellers solicitors said they will not get this that it will take too long and cost to much and they wont do it!

Our solicitor says she can do it but it would be very hard without the sellers co-operation us we would have all the costs !

The sellers solicitor says she has had access through this gate for 12 year and she never uses the front anyway so we should just accept it!

Its not us its the mortgage provider!! Plus who buys a home not knowing the access!!

Oir solicitor sent an email saying we are pulling out as we cannot get a mortage with this issue I have been in tears

We have lost money and now i am angry

What can i do? Can i complain or do anything to get the survey and searches back?

I mean they will not be able to sell this property with any mortgage company!! Its unmortgagable!!

Why would the EA not have checked why let us go this far!!

I am just so upset and grasping at straws!

Sorry to hear this, I understand why you're so upset,

The EA has no way of knowing this when marketing the property - it's not their job to check legal rights of access. These kinds of things, as rubbish as they are, are exactly why your solicitor has to study the title documents and raise enquiries with the other solicitor as part of the conveyancing process before you're committed to buy, so you don't end up buying a house with insufficient rights of access.

It's not the EA's fault or your solicitor's fault, so I'm not sure who you were planning to complain to or what about. It's just one of those unfortunate things that crops up sometimes and if the sellers won't sort it out, there's not a lot anybody can do.

Hope you have some luck in finding another property

Honestly OP something better will come along and you will be happy this has fallen through! Happened to us loads but eventually got the loveliest house of any we had seen!

Well they may live to regret that decision as I would imagine most prospective buyers will want indemnity insurance before they proceed - in which case all may not be lost. Surely if they think you are pulling out they will back down and get it done? Have bought and sold a few times now and sometimes it can be a bit of a contest to see who blinks first - their house will have to go back on the market and they have to go through viewings, etc again which is a headache they most probably don’t want if they are serious about selling...

Thank you all so much

I have no one really who i can complain to i think i was just getting my anger out!!

The property market is such a horrible place we are first time buyers and have no clue! I am old though! 37 and DH is 43 so o feel we should know all this but really we are clueless! 😂

We have started looking again on rightmove, but i am just sulking really!!

DH does not want the house at all now! Think he is sulking too!!

I hate there is no protection against crap like this!! Money wise we are 1k down!!

As painful and frustrating as it is right now, you've done the right thing pulling out. Access can be such a hot potato and costly if it's disputed, so if the sellers can't provide proof they have permission for access and are refusing to indemnify you, you've probably dodged a bullet.

But don't give up hope completely. The sellers might not want to lose the sale at the 11th hour and could do a U-turn.

@givemebooks - I feel your frustration but this is what happens. Your mortgage company may have imposed this condition but others might not. The vendors might find a cash buyer so no mortgage company will be involved. It's frustrating to shell out money for a purchase that goes no where but that's the system.

EAs just don't know the details so you can't blame them. The vendors may not have known either - maybe it wasn't picked up in their conveyancing last time?

Paying out for surveys that go nowhere is part of the cost of moving, I remember when DH costed out our move he put in a contingency fund of £3k to cover it.

That said I am mightily fed up that we have paid for two surveys now and an asbestos test and look to be in danger of losing a second house because one if the vendors is refusing to sign the contract. Run a mile from houses where the couple are divorced.

Really sorry this has happened to you . But as pps have said, the seller will have to change their attitude to this issue because it will come up every time the conveyancing process gets underway.

A very long time ago I worked in an Estate Agents (when I moved away from London for a couple of years and jobs were thin on the ground in the countryside!) and they offered an insurance policy for just this sort of thing. It cost £35 back in 1995 so would be more expensive now. But as over 30% of agreed house sales fall through, I'm surprised it's not a more commonly available product.

Onwards and upwards!

Sorry to hear this has happened on the end.
To those mentioned indemnity policies, bear in mind the only reason the mortgage company insists is purely to compensate them for the reduction in value to the house if the access was not legally allowed any more. It wouldn't actually make sure the access is available, so if it's essential you would still need to do the legal checks rather than going to the indemnity

When we were selling we provided an indemnity policy for a very similar thing, although we could prove the access for 30 years.

Sorry to hear you've had this issue, I can imagine how upset you are. I don't understand why the vendor's solicitor is being so obstructive, it is a very common thing to get an indemnity to sort out these access issues. I think the seller is definitely shooting himself in the foot here, as others have said this will crop up next time he tries to sell. Any diligent conveyancing solicitor will pick this up. Hope you find something even better than this house next time!!

We had something similar, neighbors right of access across the garden, the whole chain collapsed, we lost a couple of thousand pounds.

Next time we buy we will take out an insurance policy the mortgage advisor offers.